Cherished Memories of Africa — Page 254
236 His Grace turned a drop into a river A few years ago, on the way back from a tour of Casamance in Senegal, I happened to pass through Basse town of the Gambia. I spent the night at the Principal’s house and went to see the Nasir Ahmadiyya Muslim High School. I was overjoyed to see the vast and spacious building of the school comprising of more than forty rooms of different sizes, science laboratories and all appropriate modern facilities. Then suddenly I visualised the initial journey of the school like a movie. I had arrived in the Gambia in 1983. Those days cement blocks for construction of the school were being prepared under the supervision of Omer Sonko Sahib – an official in agriculture department. He is a very virtuous and devoted Ahmadi. I reached Basse during that period. Amir Sahib allocated the duty of construction of the school to me. Thus I had the opportunity of building the first block, Alhamdolillah. Basically the building consisted of two classrooms. As a large number of students got admission to first year, they were divided into two groups – one group for each classroom. In addition there was a large room which was used for various purposes. Within that large hall there were two small rooms, one used as Principal’s office and the other as store room. The building of the first block was completed just in time for the start of the academic year and admission for the first class was started. The Principal arrived in the Gambia from Pakistan the day opening ceremony of the school was planned. He travelled about 400 kilometers straight from the airport to Basse and participated in the auspicious ceremony.